Ashford Ups Ante into Russian Hacking

Omaha, NE.—Former Nebraska Congressman Brad Ashford is upping the ante following word that the Russians hacked his 2016 re-election campaign.

“It slipped away pretty fast,” says Ashford referring to what he says was a “significant lead” going into the last three to four weeks of the campaign. “We felt we were going to win the race,” but the Omaha Democrat didn’t.

Those comments from Ashford in a national television interview last Friday with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.

And in one of his most recent posts, Ashford is also calling on Congress to step in and make sure all interested parties are notified of any future hacks.

“We are now learning about the gravity of the Russian attacks on our election system. This can never happen again, it needs to stop happening now. Congress must act immediately to prohibit any candidate, individual or outside group from benefiting or using hacked information to sway an election. Any candidate or office holder must immediately notify law enforcement if they come into contact with hacked information. Not doing so should result in serious consequences. The public cannot be kept in the dark any longer. Some were aware of the the problem, yet the leaks continued.”—Brad Ashford

Earlier this month, following the indictments of 12 Russians accused of meddling in the 2016 Presidential race, Ashford revealed publicly that his campaign emails were also hacked and told the Omaha World-Herald that Russians hit his campaign with on-line, seemingly generic, digital ads.

Ashford has also said he could not say if the hack cost him the election, a point he reiterated to Maddow but clearly is wondering what might have been. “I can’t tell you if this hacking had anything to do with the eventual loss, about one-point-one percent, it slipped away pretty fast.”

Republican Congressman Don Bacon who defeated Ashford in 2016 has told the World-Herald he did not know the Russians were targeting Ashford’s emails.